Meet some of the outstanding authors who call the Sunshine State home.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Reviving Backlist Titles - A Guest Post by Nancy Cohen

This month, Fabulous Florida Writers is pleased to welcome guest blogger Nancy Cohen. Nancy is the author of the humorous Bad
Hair Day mystery series featuring hairdresser Marla Shore. A
featured speaker at libraries, conferences, and community events, Nancy is
listed in Contemporary Authors, Poets & Writers, and Who's Who in
U.S. Writers, Editors, & Poets.
Currently, she is President of the Florida Chapter Mystery Writers of
America. She has recently released an Author's Edition of Hair Raiser (#2 in the Bad Hair Day series), a delightfully saucy tale of sabotage, murder, and culinary chaos. Nancy was our featured writer on April 4, 2014.

“What’s old is
new again.” This adage certainly is true when authors receive reversion of
rights for their earlier titles. In this era of indie publishing, we have a
choice as to what to do with this gold mine of books:

I chose to indie publish my mystery backlist
titles on my own. Having completed two non-fiction works this way, I already
had a cover designer and formatter. But here you have another choice to make.
Do you publish your earlier titles as is or revise them first?

Mine definitely needed fixing. I glanced
through the first few books in my mystery series and recognized many areas that
needed tightening. But I didn’t have a complete file on my computer. I’d have
to get these books scanned in. In the old days, I’d written each chapter as a
separate file and printed these out to compile the whole book. Then I mailed it
to my publisher from the post office. Now I had to hire a scanning service.
This meant sacrificing a paperback for each title as it would be torn apart and
not returned.

Once I had the file, I had to check for
scanning errors. This is a tedious task, but it’s extremely important. You have
to go word-for-word as weird symbols end up between letters, like this one: let­ter. If you can’t see it, the two t’s have a dash
between them when the paragraph symbol is turned on in Word. That could mess up
the formatting when converted for Mobi or ePub. Quotation marks and periods may
be missing. A character’s name like Arnie could end up as Amie. I-75
becomes 1-75. Feels good becomes Teels good. Startling
becomes starding.

But as I went along, I also tightened
sentence structure, removed characters tags like “she hissed” or “he chortled.”
My writing skills had improved greatly in the fifteen years since my first
mystery was originally published. Restaurants that I’d mentioned had gone out
of business, so I changed those names. And a myriad of exclamation marks got
removed. I also updated the technology, so an answering machine became voice
mail.

What emerged was the same story, but it was
better written. For Murder by Manicure,
I added a cast of characters as well as a complete book list at the end and an
excerpt for the sequel. Revisiting the story brought me pleasure. I loved it as
much as I had when writing it. I laughed out loud at the hijinks between my
hairstylist sleuth, Marla Shore, and her friend Arnie, owner of Bagel Busters. Back
when I first wrote the story, I’d joined a gym for the three month trial
membership same as Marla. The main research topic—animal testing in the
cosmetic industry—remains relevant today. So I hope you’ll come along for the
ride and join me for Marla’s adventure all over again. And if you’re a writer
who has received rights reversion, decide which route you wish to take to
re-publication.For more information, visit Nancy's website at www.nancyjcohen.com.

8 comments:

It sounds like a lot of work goes into the process, so writers should know self-publishing isn't easy or a short cut to seeing their books in print. But what a great opportunity to make previous releases even better! Kudos to you, Nancy!

Best-selling indie writer Russell Blake says that he, too, updates his earlier books as his skills develop. He wants his readers to have his best efforts, no matter which book they buy. Well done, Nancy!

JACQUELINE

Based on a true story, "Jacqueline" is a tale of family, faith, unusual friendships, and the resiliency of the human spirit set against the backdrop of occupied Rennes in 1944. With the drama of fiction and the authenticity of personal history, "Jacqueline" is both a story about family and a family's story.

PROJECT JUNE BUG

Take an intimate peek behind the faculty room door and an unforgettable journey into the world of ADHD

About Me

I'm currently a columnist for The Island Reporter, a publication serving the South Gulf Beaches in St. Petersburg, Florida. My Florida Authors series features articles based on exclusive interviews with some of the state’s best writers. My “Pride & Joy” column
profiles individuals who give back to their communities through volunteerism.
I'm also the author of two novels."Project June Bug" is the story of a young teacher’s efforts to help a student with ADHD. It has received 12 awards, including Premier Book Awards “2009 Book of the Year.” My latest novel, "Jacqueline,"(published by Anaiah Press) is a middle grade historical based on an experience my dad, a WWII veteran, had while stationed in France shortly after D-day. Four of my stories have appeared in "Chicken Soup for the Soul" editions.
I live on Treasure Island (yes, it's as beautiful as it sounds), with my husband and two rather noisy macaws. In my spare time, I enjoy reading, walking on the beach, and visiting family in New Jersey, where I'm the proud "Grammy" of six beautiful grandchildren (with the pictures to prove it!)